THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Mr. Laughlin. Mr.
Powell, Mr. Smith, members of the Board of Trustees, members of
Congress and our administration, members of the Mellon family, ladies
and gentlemen. It's a great honor for Hillary and me to be here
tonight to honor this great legacy of Andrew Mellon, and to honor all
of you who do so much to carry on that legacy.

I first came to the National Gallery over 30 years ago
when I was a college student at Georgetown. Over the years I've come
back as often as I could. When I came here from time to time as
governor of my home state, I confess that on occasion I sneaked out
of the meetings of the Governors Association and came to the National
Gallery, where there was less noise and more light. (Laughter.)
Hillary and I have been privileged to be visit here in the last few
years, to tour the Vermeer and Picasso exhibitions, among others.

It's hard to believe now that the National Gallery is 61
years old, founded when our country was in the grip of the Great
Depression and the world was slipping inexorably toward World War II.
But Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon knew that our nation's work lay
even then not simply in our monetary strength or our military power,
but in the value of our ideas, the creativity of our spirit, the
power of our common culture. So he and a group of passionate men and
women gave this great gift to the nation, and established a tradition
of partnership that endures down to the very day.

There is no question that Paul Mellon carries on this
tradition. His generosity has helped to invigorate and sustain our
entire nation's cultural and artistic institutions. Having already
won the National Medal of Arts in 1985, last fall he was awarded the
National Medal for the Humanities, which Robert Smith kindly accepted
for him.

So tonight I want to thank him again, and all the
members of his family who have participated in giving other
Americans, who could never have afforded these things on their own,
access to this wonderful world.

When President Roosevelt dedicated the National Gallery,
he said, "The dedication of this gallery to a living past and to a
greater and more richly living future is the measure of the
earnestness of our intention that the freedom of the human spirit
shall go on."

Today, at the dawn of a new century and a new
millennium, it falls to us to continue in that great tradition.
Hillary and I have launched the White House Millennium Program to
encourage all Americans to honor our living past with all its
treasures, and to imagine our even more richly living future, with
the creations and the discoveries yet to come.

I hope that all of you will find ways to join us in your
homes, wherever you're from, in the coming months and years as we
celebrate and commemorate the new millennium. But most of all,
tonight, I just want to thank you on behalf of a grateful nation for
your dedication and your commitment to our common cultural and
artistic life.